MAXI-CURE Extra Thick Cyanoacrylate 1/2oz Question

[regular guy]

is this going to make building Guillows Goldwing a real breeze?
i want to avoid letting wood glue overnight and
seeing it fell over and it's GLUED ON CROOKED!
with the maxi cure do i just hold it for a few seconds
and then it's done?
this is first model just want to get through it.
can build next one the REAL way.

Have A Nice Day!

[Xanadu]

Thick CA glue is for large gaps, loose fitting pieces, etc. But it also requires longer to dry than other CA glues (about 3-5 minutes for able to hold in place)

Medium (the most popular), is for average fitting parts, etc. Drys enough to hold in place in about 1-2 minutes.

Thin, used only for extremely tight fitting parts (no gap), drys really fast. it is so thin that it wicks through the balsa like mad, and some times travels quite far in the wood. I have glued my fingers to the wood within seconds of applying a small amount over 6" away !

I would suggest Medium, and also buy a bottle of Debonder for when (not if) you glue your fingers to each other, or to something else.
DO NOT try and peel your fingers off, you could tear the skin......serious, not kidding.

When you glue something, you should actually try and pin it, brace it, etc until the glue drys so you do not end up with crooked parts again.

[regular guy]

xanadu
my mistake, it's this one.
INSTA-CURE Gap Filling Cyanoacrylate 1oz
i know what happened. i got on page at Hobbylinc and
headed straight for the 1/2 oz for $2 and something.
the colors are close.
now this one was recommended by Bob Smith Industries, purple label.
we're going to climb that mountain!

[Steve Blanchard]

Thin CA is the way to go. If you don't apply too much not much will wick in. Attched is a picture of the tool I use to apply it. Put a drop of Thin CA on the wax paper away from the work. Dip the applicator into the glue to get a tiny amount (more than enough to glue the parts). Hold the 2 two parts together where you want them to be and touch the joint with the applicator. PRESTO! glued joint. There is virtually no weight with this style of building. Beware. There are drawbacks to take into consideration. You can glue your fingers together if you aren't careful in handling. You need to be sure the parts fit well (This is easy. Just dry fit before you glue them. If there is an issue use an emory board to sand it to fit better). If you need to remove a part you will have to carefully cut it away and sand the end to be able to re-glue in the right place. I use this method on all of my builds and I have had no real issues. No matter what glue you use there will be trade offs. Some take longer to cure than others, some have a smell, some are messy, etc. You will need to make your own decisions. Try them all to be sure you found what you like.


Good Luck,

Steve

[ADW 123]

I use the medium thickness. it actually dries very quickly. i use it for all of my builds whenever i need CA. and once it has begun to set you can let go. not 3-5 minutes of holding on. the thin stuff i find sticks more to your finger than anything else. the thick stuff will fill gaps much better and will not be as messy. the thin stuff has a really low surface tention so it spreads out really quickly, which makes it tricky to work with.

[Steve Blanchard]

ADW,

I hear what your saying but I must disagree. The Thin stuff is not messy at all as long as you keep the amounts small. The drop on the wax paper will sit on top of the wax paper like a bubble. It won't spread out there. When you apply a micro drop of it to the joint it will wick for sure but there is so little to wick that unless you actually have your finger as part of the joint it won't get stuck to the work. I have used larger amounts to toughen up the balsa in areas, which is something I hear most people do for one reason or another, and have gotten stuck to the project. That was because I was careless. For general building I don't get glued. I use it on every plane I've built for the last 11 years (except when I tried Ambroid and that was OK but not my favorite) and have not had any issues. I do use Titebond and Ambroid for laminating. CA just won't work well for these applications from what I've found. The only time I have totally understood why someone absolutely cannot use CA is when they have a severe allergy to it. That I get completely. I also understand when someone just flat out doesn't like to use it. CA gets a bad rap in general and it's only because not many people have taken the time to learn how to use it properly. the weight issue is when the medium or the thick stuff is used. The thin stuff can only add weight to the model if repeated coats are applied and that would be a waste and take quite while to do. Anyway, Everybody has their own way of doing this stuff and i think it's all good. But CA or any other glue for that matter works as well as it's application by the person using it.

Steve

[SteveM]

If a person was to have only one CA thickness to build a balsa plane then IMHO medium would be the happy err... medium. If a person could afford two bottles of CA I would suggest both medium and thin. I've found few uses for thick CA. I think the thin CA would be the "go to" thickness most of the time if one had multiple thicknesses to choose from.

[Bill Gaylord]

If a person was to have only one CA thickness to build a balsa plane then IMHO medium would be the happy err... medium. If a person could afford two bottles of CA I would suggest both medium and thin. I've found few uses for thick CA. I think the thin CA would be the "go to" thickness most of the time if one had multiple thicknesses to choose from.

I'll go with the gap filling. I know I'm insane but also impatient. I've sheeted every one of my planes that has sheeting, with BSI Gap Filling CA. Gets things done quickly.
http://www.wattflyer.com/photopost/showgallery.php?ppuser=4451&cat=500

[SteveM]

But if you could only chose 1 bottle of CA glue to build an entire model would you still pick the gap filler (aka thick)?

[Steve Blanchard]

Steve M,

For what it's worth, I have built several models from beginning to end with thin CA. It is how I build almost all of my models. If I have laminations to do I use either Wood Glue or Ambroid but if push comes to shove and I only got one choice it's thin CA all the way!

Steve

[Bill Gaylord]

But if you could only chose 1 bottle of CA glue to build an entire model would you still pick the gap filler (aka thick)?

Yes, because of the sheeting use. It's really not that terribly thick, and like anything else you just have to get onto it. One challenge is being patient enough to only apply a small amount, as it really adds weight. Depends on what you do also. If all you build it perfect fitting laser cut kits, then the thin is excellent. I mostly scratch build anymore, often with 3-views and even just photos, with obviously hand cut parts.

[SteveM]

Very interesting, 3 people and 3 different preferences on glue. No wonder, we can never agree on anything else either.